January 29, 2008

Bloody Marys at Home

In San Francisco, HOME Restaurant is famous as the place with the "Build Your Own Bloody Mary Bar" on Saturdays and Sundays. What a neat concept - a buffet table set up with pitchers of virgin and nonvirgin bloody mary mix, various kinds of pepper (crushed, pickled, bottled, sauced), pickles of all kinds (pickled okra, pickled asparagus, pickled green beans), celery sticks, olives, lemons, celery salt, horseradish, Cajun spice, lemon pepper, garlic ... it's usually pretty busy, so I'd recommend going really early, or on a very lazy day when you are not in a rush to be anywhere.

In a large pitcher add the horseradish, then add about 1/2 cup of the tomato juice on top. With a wire whisk, blend well to make a smooth mixture. (If you add the horseradish after you add the whole bottle of tomato juice to the pitcher, you'll have chunks floating around that won't blend.)

Now, pour in the whole bottle of tomato juice and add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Let chill in the refrigerator for a hour before serving.

Pour the mixture in wide-mouth glasses and garnish with celery sticks and choice of pickles/olives. Sprinkle a little celery salt on top. Enjoy!